244 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



sailing directions, that it was an excellent har- 

 bour, but such was not our experience of it. 

 We anchored after dark, close to the shore for 

 convenience in wooding the next day, but day- 

 light disclosed a long line of breakers, extend- 

 ing all round the bay, and we found it impossi- 

 ble to land, except by wading up to our middle 

 in water. We managed, however, to send a 

 party on shore to cut wood, and another to 

 bathe in a small pool close to the beach, where 

 the water was described by the same authority 

 as being most excellent. This is just the 

 description I should have expected from an 

 alligator, if his opinion was consulted, for we 

 found it to be quite brackish ; and no wonder, 

 for at high tide the sea swept over the narrow 

 strip of beach, which separated the pool from 

 the sea. Hauling one of our boats over this 

 piece of beach, we launched it in the lagoon, 

 thinking to find a river by which we might 

 make our way into the interior. We found a 

 small stream of beautifully clear water, running 

 over a gravelly bottom, with many small fish 



